Potential use of oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of otoliths to identify migratory and non‐migratory stocks of the New Zealand common smelt: A pilot study

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Abstract
Preliminary oxygen and carbon isotopic analyses were made on otoliths of the common smelt Retropinna retropinna (Richardson) and compared with the isotopic composition of their habitat waters in Lake Taupo and 5 lower Waikato lakes. The results, though limited in sample size, suggest that the calcium carbonate forming the otoliths may be precipitated close to isotopic equilibrium with the waters in which the fish live. Furthermore, because the isotopic composition of waters in each of the estuarine, river, and lowland and upland lake environments appears to lie within a specific range, the potential exists for using 18O and 13C abundance in the otoliths to reveal interpopulation variations resulting from differences in migratory behaviour of the smelt between these diverse habitats.